Wednesday 5 September 2012 07.23 EDT
First published on Wednesday 5 September 2012 07.23 EDT

It's New York art rock fiesta time! Yes, David Byrne and St Vincent together! The former Talking Heads man is famed as a polymath – he's got a new book called How Music Works coming out imminently, which is about how music works. (You probably guessed that.) St Vincent – Annie Clark to her family – is the acclaimed artist whose album Strange Mercy was one of last year's delights.

"This was a more intertwined collaboration than most I've done," Byrne told Pitchfork of the pair's collaboration on Love This Giant. "In many ways it was more democratic – we were constantly bouncing what we were doing off one another. Which is creatively great, but also slow – democracy is slow."

"David is capable of so many shades and moods, and one of them is a rare combination of paranoid mania and ecstatic joy," Clark said. "It's a really unmistakable, singular tone. He also has an ability, lyrically and musically, to talk about or address big subjects in a way that never feels pretentious or lofty. David never seems to be suffering from a dearth of creative energy. It takes many forms, but he doesn't seem to be a nostalgic person. He always wants to be moving forward. That's inspiring."

You can read the pair's latest thoughts in the Guide on Saturday, and you can prepare for that by immersing yourself in Love This Giant. Let us know what you think in the comments below.